White Biotech TP is funded by FP6
France
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Introduction
Given the importance of the agro-food and pharmaceutical industries in the French economy, France has a major stake in biotechnology. With agriculture playing a key role in France’s economy and thus the access to raw materials, France has become deeply involved in the development of industrial biotechnology in Europe. Several public and private initiatives have accelerated the development of industrial biotechnology and increased the awareness of citizens, public authorities and enterprises of bio-based products.
I. Research and Innovation
Modern industrial biotechnology is a relatively new discipline, with major areas of knowledge still to be explored. Public support to research as well as the establishment of pilot and demonstration facilities to scale-up individual processes will therefore help in the development of a European bio-based economy.
A. Public research funding
The French Environment and Energy Management Agency – ADEME is member as a partner of the European Research Area for Industrial Biotechnology (ERA-IB). ADEME is an industrial and commercial public agency, under the joint supervision of French Ministries for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning (MEDAD) and for Higher Education and Research.
Until December 2007, Agrice project was supported by ADEME. It was a scientific interests association (made of up scientific bodies, companies etc.) founded by ministries in charge of agriculture, environment, energy, industry and research. It supports and funds projects which promote products from agricultural origin. Agrice managed research programmes on liquid and solid biofuels as well as biomolecules and biomaterials.
The National Research Agency (ANR) is in charge of the French research policy. Every year several calls for proposal provide funding for industrial biotechnology research within the research and innovation in biotechnology programme (RIB). Current funded projects include:
- Butabiol: development of a bio-process to produce butanol directly from maize
- Transaronat: development of microbial and enzymatic production process for natural flavour
B. Pilot and demonstration plants
A descriptive list of pilot and demonstration plants in France is available
here.
II. Policy
Public authorities can promote the quick take-up of industrial biotechnology innovations by implementing a number of “instruments” or policy initiatives. This can be the improvement of the regulatory framework; the integration of specification for bio-based products in public procurement; the establishment of standardisation, labelling and certification schemes to overcome perceived uncertainty about product properties and weak market transparency; the development of financial instruments and supports to increase investments into research, technology development and innovation as well as the elaboration of communication and information campaign to communicate the benefits of bio-based products to users.
A. Policies and regulations
No information
B. Public procurement
The ADEME, has published a guidebook on bio-based products. The aim is to help public organisations to include more biomass-based products in their purchasing policies.
The guidebook gives buyers information and concrete data about green issues. It presents the 10 main bio-based product applications: bio fuels, wood heating, packaging, inks for printing, lubricating oils, building materials, agricultural films, cleaning agents, phytosanitary products, and road-surfacing.
Each section includes an overview of the existing market in France and Europe, and of the legal context. The advantages of the vegetal alternatives are summarised, along with the existing commercial offer (suppliers, manufacturers, distributors). Some significant showcases illustrate the possible applications for the French authorities, at local and regional level.
C. Standardisation, labelling and certification
There is no standardisation, labelling and certification scheme for bio-based products.
D. Access to finance
OSEO was born in 2005, by bringing together ANVAR (French innovation agency) and BDPME (SME development bank). Its mission is to provide assistance and financial support to French SMEs and VSEs in the most decisive phases of their life cycle: start up, innovation, development, business transfer / buy out. By sharing the risk, it facilitates the access of SMEs to financing by banking partners and equity capital investors.
OSEO covers three areas of activity:
- Innovation support and funding: for technology transfer and innovative technology-based projects with real marketing prospects.
- Funding investments and operating cycle alongside the banks.
- Guaranteeing funding granted by banks and equity capital investors
OSEO is currently supporting three major projects in the field of industrial biotechnology and biorefinery: BioHub (see above); Osiris (see above) and Futurol (IAR) a second generation bioethanol Research and Development Project.
The Futurol project was launched in September 2008. It is an 8 year projects with a total budget of €74 million (of which €29 million comes from OSEO. The first phase of the project will consist of the development of a pilot plant in Pomacle (ARD) with a capacity of 500l/day. In the second phase, a demonstration plant will be built with a capacity of 3,5 million liters per year.
In 2004, the French Government decided a new industrial policy. One part of the policy aimed to establish competitiveness clusters. For a given local area, a competitiveness cluster is defined as:
- an association of companies, research centres and educational institutions;
- working in partnership (under a common development strategy);
- to generate synergies in the execution of innovative projects in the interest of one or more given markets.
The French Government organises dedicated calls for competitiveness clusters twice a year. €400 million will be granted for the period 2008-2011.
Industrie et Agro-Ressources (IAR) is the cluster dedicated to biomass valorisation. It unites stakeholders from research, higher education, industry & agriculture in the Champagne-Ardenne and Picardy regions of France around a shared goal: the value-added non-food exploitation of plant biomass. It is active in the field of bioenergy, biomolecules, biomaterials and food ingredients. IAR cluster’s missions are to:
- provide support for R&D projects, from the idea to the award of funding
- coordinate and network interregional skills
- build collaborations and international delegations & missions
- provide information and strategic intelligence
- perform promotional and public relations activities
E. Communication
French white biotech actors are supported by the newly established association “Chimie du vegetal”. The association is chaired by Roquette.
Main Sources
| French KBBE-net delegate |
| IAR cluster |